April 9, 2012

You know what’s really been lacking on television lately? White, straight men. At least according to the co-creator of Two and a Half Men, Lee Aronsohn. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Aronsohn had this to say about the recent uprise in female centered sitcoms:

“Enough, ladies. I get it. You have periods,”

and

“…we’re approaching peak vagina on television, the point of labia saturation,”

For those of you keeping track, that brings the grand total to men: 21, women: 11. So despite the fact that women are half the population, but helm a third of sitcoms, we’re reaching “labia saturation” on television. Riiiiight.

Aronsohn has since apologized for his comments on twitter. Considering how he regularly (and I’m sure will continue to) treat women as second class citizens on his show, I can’t say I take his apology too seriously. According to Aronsohn: “What makes men damaged? Sorry, it’s women.”

What I find most offensive (and there’s a lot of offensive material here) is referring to women on tv as “labia saturation”. Reducing women to literally a couple of inches of flesh is repulsive and demeaning and only shows the ignorance and immaturity of the speaker.

Wonderful post. Aronsohn was completely out of line with his sexist comment. It’s time someone pointed out the prevailing inequality of public broadcasting. It’s completely absurd for members of the establishment to criticize and complain about finally meeting a healthy dose of competition. It’s as if the over-privileged feel obnoxiously entitled to have a free ride by public viewers. …Again, excellent post with quality points made. Cheers!